Be careful when buying a Tesla in Turkey! You can lose 700 thousand TL with one click

There are some taxes that we have to pay when buying a car all over the world. These can vary greatly depending on the country and its rules. In fact, not only the rates but also systemic changes may occur.

Some countries only collect a certain amount of tax on the price of the car, while others may increase the tax as the price increases. In addition, many countries such as Turkey provide taxation by paying attention to factors such as engine type, cylinder volume and price. For this very reason, users who want to buy a Tesla in Turkey can buy their cars for 700 thousand TL more by clicking a single button, without paying attention.

Tesla Model Y is above the Special Consumption Tax base limit!

Thanks to the regulations made in Turkey in recent years, electric cars have been separated from their internal combustion competitors and become more affordable, which we can call incentives. What enabled this was the SCT base regulation. In other words, electric cars that meet certain conditions can be sold for millions of TL more than other vehicles of the same brand and model.

Following the regulation made first in June 2022 and then in November 2023, the new SCT base levels for electric cars were announced as follows:

• Electric vehicles not exceeding 160 kW and not exceeding 1 million 450 thousand TL: 10 percent
• Electric vehicles not exceeding 160 kW and exceeding 1 million 450 thousand TL: 40 percent
• Electric vehicles exceeding 160 kW and not exceeding 1 million 350 thousand TL: 50 percent
• Electric vehicles exceeding 160 kW and not exceeding 1 million 350 thousand TL: 60 percent

These SCT base levels actually tell us this; If the tax-free price of the car you buy does not exceed 1 million 450 thousand TL and the engine power does not exceed 160 kW, only 10 percent Special Consumption Tax will be paid. Even if the price is 1 million 451 thousand TL, the SCT rate increases from 10 percent to 40 percent. A similar situation also applies to vehicles above 160 kW, as you can see in the table above.

What is it about Tesla that will make us lose 700 thousand TL with the click of a button?

When you go to Tesla’s website and want to buy a car, you will see that the tax-free price of the rear-wheel drive standard model is 1 million 408 thousand TL. When taxes are included (10 percent Special Consumption Tax bracket) it is possible to buy it for 1 million 866 thousand TL.

However, due to the SCT base limit of 1 million 450 thousand TL mentioned above, as you can see in the images below, if you make a purchase by adding options to your car, this price can suddenly increase up to 700 thousand TL.

As we mentioned, the tax-free price of the base model is currently 1 million 408 thousand TL. In other words, if you buy an option with a price of 42 thousand TL or more, you will suddenly be in the 40 percent Special Consumption Tax bracket instead of 10 percent.

For example, as you can see in the image above, Tesla has different prices for color options. If you want Solid Black instead of white, you have to pay an additional 32 thousand 510 TL. In this way, the tax-free price of the car is around 1 million 440 thousand TL. So you do not exceed the SCT base.

However, you have to pay 47 thousand 410 TL for Deep Blue Metallic, 96 thousand 360 TL for Midnight Cherry Red and 89 thousand 820 TL for Quicksilver. Therefore, if you choose one of these colors, the tax-free price of the car will exceed 1 million 450 thousand TL and you will cross the SCT base limit and face 40 percent SCT instead of 10 percent. The price of the car will suddenly increase from 1 million 866 thousand TL to 2 million 537 thousand TL.

Of course, it’s not just colors that affect. For example, if you want to buy 20 inch rims instead of 19 inches, you have to pay an additional 66 thousand 850 TL. Similarly, if you want to add a tow bar to your car, you have to pay 40 thousand 380 TL. In these two cases, the price again exceeds the SCT base limit and the price of the car approaches 2.5 million.

Therefore, if you want options such as changing rims or adding a tow bar, it would be much more logical to do this after purchasing the car. Because in this way, you will not be included in the SCT base bracket.

However, when it comes to color, if you do not want to have your new vehicle completely painted and do not want to pay enough money to buy a new car just for the color, you have no choice other than white and black.